- For 21 years, The Wiggles had been entertaining children in Australia and other parts of the world where their colorful skivvies always heralded fun and music for the young ones. In May 2012, three of the original four Wiggles announced they were retiring from the group by the end of the year.
The Wiggles — Australia's leading children's entertainers — are easily recognisable, particularly by children, by their distinctively colored skivvies.
The performing Wiggles originally comprised Anthony Field (Blue Wiggle), Murray Cook (Red Wiggle), Greg Page (Yellow Wiggle) and Jeff Fatt (Purple Wiggle).
The four, together with another friend, Phillip Wilcher, first recorded an album of children's songs, The Wiggles in 1991. The following year, the four started performing in their colorful skivvies.
On occasion, Wiggles producer Paul Field, brother to Anthony, performed as the Blue Wiggle when Anthony had been unable to tour with the group. Longtime understudy Sam Moran stood in for Page when the Yellow Wiggle Page had been unable to perform due to ill health.
Not specifically a Wiggle, another member of the group has been Paul Paddick who plays Wiggles friend Captain Feathersword.
Dancing, costumed characters Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog and Dorothy the Dinosaur perform with the group.
Awards and theme park
The Wiggles first hit the Australian children's entertainment scene in 1991 and have now achieved renown beyond Australian shores. They have joined street parades in New York and performed on television, stage, and variety shows in a number of countries around the world.
As of the end of 2005, the Wiggles had won three ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) awards and three APRA (Australian Performing Rights Association) songwriter awards and sold in excess of 17 million DVDs and videos, and five million CDs and cassettes worldwide.
A Wiggles World theme park opened in 2005 at Dreamworld on Queensland's Gold Coast.
In November 2006, Greg Page, the original Yellow Wiggle, announced he would no longer be performing with the group as a result of ill health. Page had been with the Wiggles since its inception. Putting on the yellow skivvy was longtime understudy Sam Moran.
In January 2012, Page rejoined the Wiggles, with Moran standing aside to pursue other interests.
In May 2012, it was announced that three of the original Wiggles — Jeff Fatt, Murray Cook and Greg Page — would be retiring at the end of the year.
Taking their places would be Emma Watkins (Yellow Wiggle), Lachlan Gillespie (Purple Wiggle) and Simon Pryce (Red Wiggle) who had been handpicked by the group.
